Enterprise software has transformed the way diverse enterprises, large and small a like, transact and manage day-to-day operations. Businesses use enterprise software (e.g., web based application servers) to control production planning, purchasing and logistics, warehouse and inventory management, production, vendor management, customer service, finance, personnel management, and other basic business activities. As the enterprise software industry continues to mature, the various application and hardware resources enlisted to facilitate this diverse set of tasks are being amalgamated into robust, highly integrated solutions (e.g., SAP® NETWEAVER®, SAP® XAPPS®, MYSAP™ Business Suite, etc.).
To integrate diverse hardware and software resources, developers of enterprise software have leveraged cross platform engines capable of minimizing or even severing platform dependencies from the enterprise solution. The JAVA™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition™ (“J2EE™”) (e.g., J2EE™ Specification, Version 1.4) is a JAVA™ based solution supported by the JAVA™ Virtual Machine (“JVM™”) engine. J2EE™ simplifies application development and decreases the need for programming and programmer training by creating standardized and reusable modular components. The popularity of JAVA™ based solutions is evident as the Information Technology (“IT”) world has gravitated to the JAVA™ language.
As enterprise software is woven into the fabric of modem business, failure of an enterprise solution may no longer be a mere nuisance, but has the potential to wreak catastrophic havoc on a business. As such, robust, reliable software is evermore critical. The enterprise software industry is marching toward the ultimate goal of self-healing software capable of sustainable, uninterrupted operation, without human intervention. In pursuit of this goal, IT technicians can benefit from convenient tools capable of monitoring the health of their enterprise software. With appropriate monitoring tools, IT technicians can take appropriate action in a timely manner to ensure a healthful state of their software or to spot delinquent applications and prevent repeat offenders. Currently JVM™s do not provide adequate mechanisms to monitor their internal operation on a real-time basis.